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Web Development vocabulary · HTTP and APIs

API

Meaning in web development, with examples

/ˌeɪ piː ˈaɪ/abbreviationCore term

In web development, API means: Application Programming Interface: a defined way for one piece of software to ask another for data or actions, for example a web API that returns JSON.

In Turkish: API, uygulama programlama arayüzü

How it is used

Said letter by letter. In web work it usually means an HTTP API on a server, but browser features such as the Fetch API or the Geolocation API are also called APIs. Developers call, consume, build and document APIs.

Example sentences

  1. The front end calls the API to get the latest orders.

  2. Is the API documented, or do I have to read the code?

Common collocations

  • call an API
  • public API
  • API key
  • API documentation
  • third-party API
  • endpointA specific URL of an API that accepts requests for one kind of data or action, such as /api/users or /api/orders/42.
  • REST APIAn API built in the REST style, where each resource has its own URL and standard HTTP methods such as GET, POST and DELETE act on it.
  • JSONJavaScript Object Notation: a simple text format for data, made of keys and values in curly braces, used by most web APIs.
  • requestA message a client sends to a server asking for something, such as a web page, an image or data, or asking it to save a change.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: HTTP and APIs

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